By, Kenny Folarin & Nelson Uguwagbo, Abuja
Like a nightmare in reality, the plight of Nigerian Students of graduating duly is being dashed as many of them has engaged in unplanned entrepreneurship activities but worse of all is the unperturbed and neglecting attitude of the federal government to meet the ASUU demands.
Sadly, the campaign for the 2023 General Elections is around the corner, undoubtedly, students that are supposed to be in school would be used as campaign tools to bring in the next government.
Recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities declared strike action on the 14th of February, 2022 to press their needs to the Federal Government.
The strike has shut down all 48 Federal Universities and most State Universities, effectively stagnating the education of over 1.5 million Nigerian undergraduates at the moment.
These constant disruptions of academic activities in the nation’s public universities come with serious impacts on the students, many of whom have been expressing their frustration on the painful inability of the federal government and the academic union to resolve their crises.
The academic union is demanding for 220 billion Naira that for the revitalization of Nigerian Universities and 50 billion naira for their Earned Academic Allowance.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government whose duty it is to settle the dispute they have with the Academic Staff Union have been mostly nonchalant and half-concerned about the whole situation.
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has come out to say that they do not have money to settle ASUU as they are other sectors of the nation that they need to attend to.
This is however a very dishonest statement by the Buhari administration
Over 80 billion Naira was looted by the former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris. This money could have been channelled to the needs of the Academic Union, but the Government has been adamant.
Also, $23 Million dollar Abacha loot was repatriated back to the country by the United States.
This amounts to near 10 billion naira using the official exchange rate of 426 naira to dollar.
FG however instead of using this money to settle the needs of ASUU, have kept it to be used for political purposes.
The plight of students has been sacrificed on the alter of their 2023 elections ambitions as students who are kept at home without any thing productive would be recruited by politicians to be used as thugs and carry out pre-election violence.
Politicians spent billions of naira in the last presidential nomination race. Tickets were bought by APC politicians for 100 million while that of their PDP counterparts went for 40 million naira.
Rumours have spread about how the current ruling All Progressives Congress have budgeted over 6 trillion Naira to be used for campaigns and election expenses.
Who knows what these huge sums of money is budgeted for?
A popular saying goes that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. The stagnation of the educational activities of over a million students, makes the students available to be used for dirty political activities.
As election season is drawing closer, politicians who are looking for thugs to perpetrate violence on the opposition will see the idle students as opportunity.
Like the politicians have done before, the students will be used for ballot snatching, hired assassins, agents of harassment, bribery agents amongst other unconstitutional activities.
The consequences of these actions are disastrous to the nation.
Not only does the use of undergraduates are election tools undermine the transparency of our elections, it also makes it possible that bad leaders would be elected, pushing the nation into another four years of suffering.
Also, harm may come the way of the students who engage in such acts, this could be in the form of a fatal injury or death.
Any harm that comes the way of an undergraduate would bring untold sufferings to their parents/guarding’s, their friends and their community in general.
Such a student might even be in final year, on the verge of graduating, loss of life would then be tantamount to four to five years of wasted efforts by the parents or guardian.No parent would be able to endure such a loss.
Meanwhile, the children of the politicians are not in any way affected by ASUU strike since they mostly study outside the country, or worse in the most reputable and expensive private institutions within the nation.
Two months ago, the child of Governor Wike graduated from an institution, her father went there to celebrate with her, even posting the pictures on social media.
The same Wike has not said anything concerning the lingering ASUU strike, even though people from his state are affected by it.
This dire situation needs to be salvaged before the patient of the students is finally pushed to a limit.
While voters apathy is not encouraged, Nigerian Students should make sure that they are not used as campaign tools or any form of elections irregularities l, rather they should be at pooling units to demand for thier educational rights from the politicians.